(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to providing awards when a person comes within a certain proximity of an electronic data storage element, such as an RFID tag.
(2) Description of Related Art
Increasing customers is a goal of many businesses. In order to increase customers, some businesses market their products, others provide discounts or coupons to customers, and still others create customer loyalty programs that reward customers for repeat patronage. Some business use all these methods and all businesses use some method to draw customers. The present invention increases patronage at business establishments by using RFID technology to provide awards to persons that visit or make purchases at such establishments.
Evolving technologies allow products or other items to be tagged with inexpensive electronic data storage elements (“EDSEs”) then tracked by devices that can read the information encoded into the tag. One form of electronic data storage element is a radio frequency transponder. Radio frequency identification (“RFID”) uses low-powered radio transmitters to read data stored in a transponder at distances up to 200 feet away. Present applications of this technology include tracking assets, managing inventory, automatic vehicle identification, highway tolls and authorizing payments. RFID technology is also used by certain automobile manufacturers to provide electronic keys to their automobiles.
RFID systems originated in the 1940s when the U.S. government used transponders to distinguish between friendly and enemy aircraft. Aircraft still utilize transponders today for aircraft tracking. In addition to tracking aircraft, the airline industry, along with the FAA has used RFID tags to route baggage and increase air security. In the 1970s, the U.S. government used RFID systems for tracking livestock and nuclear material. Companies such as McDonald's and Exxon Mobile have tested RFID chips to allow customers to pay for food or gas.
RFID technology is known to those skilled in the art. Commercial utilizations typically operate in a number of unlicensed frequency bands, with 125 KHz and 13.56 MHz being the most common. The greater the bandwidth the more information a RFID tag can hold. For instance, a 13.56 MHZ tag can hold as much as 2,000 bits of data, roughly 30 times the information that can be held on a 125 KHz tag. Active RFID tags are equipped with a battery that allows an active tag to transmit a signal to a reader. These tags often provide the greatest range, up to 200 feet, but are more expensive than other tags. Passive RFID tags are not battery powered. They draw power from the electromagnetic waves emitted from the receiver-transmitter. The read range of these tags is generally under three meters and the tags are inexpensive to manufacture. Semi-passive RFID tags have batteries like active RFID tags, but the battery is only used to power the tag's microchip circuitry, it does not power the transmission from the tag to the reader. Semi-passive tags also have longer read ranges than passive tags.
One example of EDSE or RFID use is inventory control. In this application, a RFID tag is placed on the item to be tracked. Up to 2,000 bits of data are stored on a memory chip that is housed in a button or integrated circuit card. Tags can also be etched on a substrate that is then embedded in a paper or plastic tag. The information stored on the tag may include a unique product identification code, the place of product manufacture and the place of sale. The tag may include a battery or it may be passive. A RFID transmitter-receiver or reader is utilized that contains a transmitter, receiver and digital control module connected to a transmitting antenna. When the control module senses a tag, it interrogates the tag (after awakening the tag if passive), decodes the data and typically passes that data on to a host system by way of wired or wireless communication. The host system assimilates the data received from the product tags and the data is used to track product inventory and sales.
The majority of RFID tags are write-once/read-only, but others offer read/write capability such that the information contained on the tag can be rewritten. For instance if tracking an item in transit, the information can be rewritten as the item travels along its route or is rerouted. RFID readers may be hand-held and wireless.
Numerous companies have developed RFID technology, including Texas Instruments (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,347,280 and 5,541,604), IBM (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,528,222; 5,550,547; 5,521,601; and 5,682,143), Motorola/Indala (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,378,880 and 5,565,846), and Mikron/Philips Semiconductors (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,442,507; 4,796,074; 5,095,362; 5,296,722; and 5,407,851). In addition, RFID technology and tracking systems are described in numerous additional patents, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,424,262 and 6,484,780 to Garber, assigned to 3M (describing the use of RFID to track library materials); U.S. Pat. No. 6,100,804 to Brady, assigned to Intecmec (describing a RFID system employing a thin, flexible RFID tag and integrated antenna); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/823,874 by Catan (describing a system for tracking a changeable description of an article for use in a home inventory system); and U.S. Pat. No. 6,563,417 to Shaw, assigned to Identec Solutions (describing a RFID method of tracking products moving along a distribution path). Other patents and patent applications describe other uses for RFID technology. For example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/859,359 by Hind describes a method for providing targeted advertising and personalized customer services using RFID tagged products and wireless communication devices and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/442533 by Hidary describes a system for distributing and retrieving information about an object using RFID transponders and Internet access devices. Each of the above referenced patents and their disclosures regarding EDSE or RFID technology are incorporated herein by reference.
Examples of EDSE technology and uses can also be found in the June 2003 Equity Research of Bear Stearns, titled Supply-Chain Technology: Track(ing) to the Future, The Impending RFID-based Inventory Revolution, which is also incorporated herein by reference.